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I did something this summer that I wish I had done several years ago. And I recommend it to you if you are a fan of the late Elmer Kelton (who died two years ago this week).

One of Kelton’s most acclaimed books was “The Good Old Boys,” featuring probably his favorite character, Hewey Calloway. It was made into a TV movie starring Tommy Lee Jones, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, Wilford Brimley and Matt Damon – quite a cast.

Later, Kelton wrote a sequel called “The Smiling Country” and then a few years later came out with a prequel called “Six Bits a Day.”

I’ve had “The Good Old Boys” in my library for years, and I have done pieces on the sequel and the prequel, but I had never sat down and read the Hewey Calloway trilogy in chronological order, beginning with “Six Bits a Day.” So this summer I checked out all three books from the library in hardback editions and in 780 pages got to know Hewey Calloway a lot better.

These are not shoot-‘em-up westerns but somewhat leisurely-paced accounts of the life of a fun-loving cowboy who measures his riches by the friends he makes and the freedom he enjoys. Like many of Kelton’s novels, the stories deal with change and how some people embrace it while others try to avoid having to deal with it.

The first book, “Six Bits a Day,” begins in 1889. Hewey is 22 and his brother Walter is a year younger when they arrive in West Texas and hire on as cowboys for the going rate of 75 cents – or six bits – a day. They encounter a variety of challenges, dangers and pranks as they drive a herd from South Texas to West Texas.

Hewey loves being a cowboy and has no desire to ever do anything else. But Walter doesn’t share his passion for the nomadic life. He dreams of some day having a wife and kids and his own spread.

Fast forward to 1906 and book two, “The Good Old Boys.” Now in his late thirties, Hewey is still cowboying but Walter has a wife, two sons and a farm which he is struggling to keep the bank from taking over.

Hewey has no intentions of settling down but is forced by circumstances to stay in one place for awhile and shoulder more responsibility than he ever thought he could.

“The Smiling Country” picks up four years later with many of the same characters and a few new ones. Hewey hasn’t changed much, but as the story unfolds he will face the biggest challenges of his life.

Interestingly, the afterword to the 1985 TCU Press edition of “The Good Old Boys” was written by literary critic Don Graham, who called it “a beautifully-constructed book in which all the parts mesh.” Yes, that’s the same Don Graham who in June’s Texas Monthly questioned the long-standing reputation of Kelton as the “greatest western writer of all time,” an honor bestowed on him in 1995 by the Western Writers of America.

“I think we can all agree,” wrote Graham, “that Kelton was certainly the greatest western writer of all time named Elmer.” Kind of a cheap shot, it seemed to me, but he did pay Kelton several compliments as well. And in Graham’s excellent “Lone Star Literature” anthology in 2003, he included a story by Kelton.

By the way, Graham’s latest book, “State of Minds” (University of Texas Press, $29.95), is a collection of essays he has written over the years dealing with Texas literature and culture. He is a respected, if somewhat controversial, authority and is fun to read, whether you agree with him or not.

Reading the three Hewey Calloway books really makes me want to see “The Good Old Boys” movie again. If you know where I might rent or borrow a copy, please e-mail me.

One other thing: This year’s drought has revived interest in Kelton’s signature novel, “The Time It Never Rained,” which dealt with the seven-year drought of the 1950s in West Texas.